Despite Tornado, Dad Mows Lawn

The grass was too long, and Thenius Wessels wasn't going to let a little bad weather stop him from making it shorter.

Theunis Wessels of Three Hills, Alberta, decided to mow the lawn this past Friday, so his wife, Cecelia, turned in for an afternoon nap.

A little while later, their nine-year-old daughter woke her up, saying she was worried about Dad. When Cecily headed outside to check on her husband, this is what she saw:

"It seems that most people here mow before the rain comes, so he thought he would do that," Cecilia told Buzzfeed. "It was just a great day to mow the lawn."

That is, until it wasn't. The tornado arose from a thunderstorm on Friday evening, and attracted a lot of attention from Three Hills residents. "Everyone was on their back patios taking pictures," Cecilia told the CBC. No injuries have been reported, and the twister dissipated less than an hour after it started.

Melding as it does the classic themes of "deadly storm" and "unruffled dad," this particular photo kicked up a second storm on the internet, garnering coverage all over the place. Esquire called it "a real life 'This is fine' meme," suggesting that its subject was in some kind of danger.

To Thenius, though, everything really was fine. "It looks much closer... in the photo," he told the CBC. "I was keeping an eye on it."

Every day, we track down a fleeting wonder—something amazing that’s only happening right now. Have a tip for us? Tell us about it! Send your temporary miracles to cara@atlasobscura.com.